The plan for Saturday was to go to The Uptown Bar & Cafe for one last breakfast & Bloody Mary (apparently, they’re award-winning) before they closed down. An added bonus to their Bloodys is that you get to take home the glass it comes in. My glasses from the Uptown now outnumber the set I got from Target. Their bloody’s were simple, yet satisfying. Unfortunately, we found that the Uptown had already closed. Here’s to hoping they find themselves a new location.

Change of plans. Jesse and I instead opted for breakfast at Bryant Lake Bowl. BLB offers a choice of four different Bloody Marys, each one unique and awesome and totally worth trying. I’ve had two of theirs before, but this time opted to try one I hadn’t yet sampled: Amanda’s Rock ‘n’ Roller. It was advertised as containing mild green Tobasco and some other ingredients I don’t quite remember being listed, and combined with the name, looked like it would be spicy and savory.

Along the rim was not a celery salt or pepper concoction, but rather… sea salt! Pure sea salt. Now, I am quite a lover of all things sodium-infused (much to my blood pressure’s dismay), but this could have possibly been a bit too much. I solved this problem by brushing the salt chunks into the drink. They dissolved and it was no longer overwhelming.

What made this Bloody Mary especially unique was the abundant use of garlic. When I say abundant, I mean that I was drinking alcoholic, tomato-flavored garlic. A full glass of it. There were garlic chunks in the drink itself, and the garnish of two green olives were stuffed with garlic. The pickle spear, thankfully, lacked additional garlic flavoring.

The consistency was medium-to-thin, which isn’t usually my favorite. I added more Tobasco, as usual, because nothing can ever be too spicy (or salty).

I am not 100% positive about which beer was used for the beer back, but based on the location (Minneapolis hipster headquarters) and the bland, thin taste, I think I’m safe in assuming that it was PBR.

All in all, I’d rate Saturday’s Bloody Mary a solid B. As far as my personal preferences are concerned, it was a C, but I think that people who are bigger fans of garlic would love it. My mom, for example, would probably ask for another tablespoon or so to add to it. (Love you, Mom, and your spaghetti-flavored garlic!)

Saturday’s Bloody Mary was enjoyed with the above-referenced Mom at Mayslack’s. I’ve had their Bloody Marys a few times, and always thoroughly enjoy them. They have one standard Bloody Mary that includes a slew of garnishes, including: Pickle spear, two large green olives, a lime, and a beef stick. The beef stick, while not the awesomest quality meat ever, appears to be included as part of their inaccurate slogan, “Nobody Beats Mayslack’s Meat!” I say inaccurate because all of the meat that I’ve had there, with the exception of their bacon, is chewy and fatty and gross.

Anyway.

The consistency of the Bloody Mary is quite thick, and the rim is covered in what seems to be a mix of salt-and-pepper spices and other unidentifiable (but delicious and complementary) spices. The beer back is also unidentifiable to my taste buds, but it is presumably some cheap tap beer. Not PBR, either way. Drinkable, nonetheless.

Overall rating: Solid A. I love how thick it is, I like the beef stick, even though it’s not fabulous, and the mix is savory and a little spicy.

Oh, and the omelet I had there was amazing and the jalapenos were actually spicy, which is a rare thing in these wimpy Northern parts.

Anyone sample Bloody Marys at either of these places? How do you like them?